Twin City Postcard Club

Transcription

1 Twin City Postcard Club Volume XXXI T CPC Number JAN/FEB VOLUME XX XV II NU MBER 1 IN THIS ISSUE Harry Whittier Frees 1, 4, 5 Courtney, ND 2 Postcards and Aliens Chicken in the Rough TCPC News & Letter to the Editor 3 6, 8, 9 7 Harry Whittier Frees ( ) By Steve & Nancy Bailey One of our favorite collections and, alas, one of the most elusive, is that of the dressed kittens of Harry Whittier Frees. Of the 42 we have, 34 are in color and are all printed in Switzerland and 8 are in sepia tone and are printed in either England or the U.S.A. All of the cards date from the 1920 s to the early 30 s. In today's age of computer animation and special effects, the work of artists like Harry Whittier Frees is becoming a lost art. Those viewing his photography instantly think there is a trick to it. However, Mr. Frees worked in a time in history when tricks in photography didn't exist. The photographer simply had to wait patiently for the shot he wanted. In Mr. Frees' own words, "These unusual photographs of real animals were made possible only by patient, unfailing kindness on the part of the photographer at all times." Classifieds 10 Upcoming Meetings 11 Do you have a program you d like to present? If so, contact Dave Johnson, program director Harry Frees' animal photos were featured on post cards, calendars, books, advertising materials, and articles for "Woman's World" and "Child Life" magazines. In addition, he wrote the stories to accompany his pictures for the books and magazines. See Whittier continued on page 4

2 T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOL UME XX XV II NU MBER 1 COURTENAY, N.D. By Harry Drager Real photo postcard collectors typically want to have an identity of the subject of the card. This is usually supplied in an etching to the negative identifying the subject. At times, the photographer is also identified on the front or backside and this information is also valued. What makes this postcard so interesting to me is that the photographer is also the sender of the card. He has identified the subject on the front of the card and states that this is his photograph on the back. In my four years or so of collecting real photos, I have never seen this. Hand written description on the front of the card: Busses for the Corinne Consolidated School near Courtenay, N. D. Card was sent from Courtenay, N.D. to Buffalo Springs, N.D. on June 25, It reads Dear Sister Grace- How are you? And how s farming? I expect to start tomorrow or Sat. don t know for sure which. This is a view I took of our busses, teams and children a few days ago. Love to all. L. E. Dunning. There was a time when I considered cards such as this a good find and looked to make a little money by flipping the card for a profit. In most cases, I now keep the real photo cards as I like them as much as any cards in my collection. I had never thought of teams of horses and covered wagons as busses. I think the photographer got the whole transportation crew together, had the children line up (notice the outfits) and photographed them on the plain (no tree in sight). I am guessing that there is some pride in this school bussing program and that he had something to do with getting it together. PAGE 2

3 T CPC JAN/FEB VOL UME XX XV II NU MBER 1 Postcards and Aliens (Coming soon to a theater near you?) By Sherri Middendorf Quiz: What English word(s) share(s) the same root as deltiology? a) Delicate b) Deltoid c) Delta Wikipedia defines deltiology as...the study and collection of postcards. It further explains that the term was coined by Randall Rhoades of Ashland, Ohio, in 1945, and that he derived it from the Greek word deltos, which means writing tablet. But where did the Greeks get the word deltos, and what other modern English words share this origin? Stumped, I turned to an expert, Assistant Professor of Classical Civilizations at Gonzaga University, Dr. David Oosterhuis. Oosterhuis told me,...scholars believe there is a connection to the Greek letter delta, Δ. It's just the nature of the connection that they argue about. One hypothesis is that the name of the letter still carried some of the connotations from its Semitic origins. The Semites called the letter 'daltu', which meant 'door' because it kind of looks like a door. But how do you get from a door (a rectangular shape) to a delta (a triangular shape)? A quick Google search on triangle door may reveal the answer. According to the top site returned, a giant triangle-shaped door was built in our sun by aliens. Chatter on this site is split on the aliens' use of this door. Are they harvesting the sun's energy or sending ships through it? Returning to classics scholar Oosterhuis: Any way you slice it, though, there's probably a connection to the letter delta. And we do have English words related to delta. Like 'delta'. Answer c in the quiz above is also correct, as the deltoid is a triangular-shaped muscle. Retrieved from on 9/14/2012 Excerpted from It was a very good year from Dr. David Oosterhuis to Sherri Middendorf on 4/20/2012 Retrieved from on 9/14/2012 Excerpted from It was a very good year from Dr. David Oosterhuis to Sherri Middendorf on 4/20/2012 PAGE 3

4 T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOLUME XX XV II NUMB ER 1 Whittier continued from Page 1 The feature which sets these postcards apart from all others is the nature of the pictures, which represent an almost inconceivable amount of patience, care, and kind attention. Speed is essential in securing these pictures, but very often it is impossible to be quick enough. Young animals cannot hold a pose any better than human babies, and the situation is complicated when they are called on to be precocious in situations naturally foreign to them. In the preface to one of his books, Harry Whittier Frees describes working with his subjects, Rabbits are the easiest to photograph in costume, but incapable of taking on many "human" parts. Puppies are tractable when rightly understood, but the kitten is the most versatile animal actor, and possesses the greatest variety of appeal. The pig is the most difficult to deal with, but effective on occasion. The best period of young animal models is a short one, being when they are from six to ten weeks of age. An interesting fact is that a kitten's attention is best held through the sense of sight, while that of a puppy is most influenced by sound, and equally readily distracted by it. The native reasoning powers of young animals are, moreover, quite as pronounced as those of the human species, and relatively far surer." PAGE 4 See Cats continued on page 5

5 T CPC JAN/FEB 2012 VOLUME XX XV II NUMB ER 1 Cats continued from page 4 The March 1, 1937, edition of Life magazine featured an article on Mr. Frees that explained that his career as a photographer of dressed animals began at a birthday party in 1906, when a paper party hat was passed around the dinner table and landed on the pet cat's head. Harry took a picture and a career was begun! He took others and sold them to a postcard printer, who clamored for more. Frees' animal pictures became more elaborate. His exposures were taken at 1/5th of a second and two -thirds of the negatives had to be discarded. He rented his models from neighbors, breeders, and pet shops and said his work was so nerve-racking that he only photographed three months a year. The rest of the time was spent preparing new props, scenes, and situations. PAGE 5

6 PAGE 6 T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOLUME XX XV II NUMB ER 1 Back in 1936, Beverly and Rubye Osborne dropped a basket of their fried chicken. Picking it up, Rubye stated, This is chicken in the rough. That started their chicken business. It was cheap to raise and could be eaten with fingers no utensils needed.. By 1950 they had 250 franchised outlets. The franchises served fried chicken, shoestring potatoes, hot biscuits and honey. Chicken in the Rough By John L. Cole Their logo was a chicken carrying a bag of golf clubs, with a broken club in one leg standing in tall grass. He had a small chick as a caddie, saying I ll gladly be fried for Chicken in the Rough. They used postcards as a way of advertising. Cards were given out at all the occasions as a very good way to get noticed. One particular postcard, a promotion, was a $100 prize to the first person who would send to the home office in Oklahoma, 25 cards signed from different Chicken in the Rough restaurants, stating they had eaten there. See Chicken on page 8 President: Chuck Donley, VP/Membership : Dianne Lamb, Treasurer: Allan Hillesheim, Secretary: Dave Norman, Editor: Duane Stabler, Assistant Editor: Dave Norman, Program Chair: Dave Johnson, Show Chair: Dave Johnson, Social Coordinator: Dean Borghorst, Librarian: Paul Scheuer, Member-at-Large: John Cole, Member-at-Large: Alan Calavano, Member-at-Large: Don Morgenweck, Webmaster: Duane Stabler,

7 T CPC JAN/FEB 201 VOL UME XX XV II NU MBER 1 TCPC News Notice of two TCPC members passing: Paul Shoenecker died in Nov Paul was a long time club member and dealer who was a "fixture" at the antiques shows at the MN State Fair grounds and also at Har Mar Mall, and certain club shows in the recent past. Hymen "Whitey" Simes died Nov. 19, Hy and his wife Josephine were also long time club members. He was 95 years old and we will all miss his smile and good nature. TCPC Elects Officers: The listing on page 6 shows the results of the election but if you look at it you ll notice that there are no changes. We still have the same officers and other positions filled. Thank you to those who volunteer to help the club continue by taking care of the business side of TCPC. Also, a special thank you to others who volunteer to help the TCPC shows happen, those that write articles for this newsletter etc. We also appreciate the fact that all of you are willing to pay the dues that help to fund this newsletter and other expenses. Although they don t usually cover all the expenses we ve survived by being careful with the funds and if we make a few bucks on the show(s) that money too is used to pay the bills. Letter to the Editor: In the November-December 2012 TCPC newsletter, there is an article on page 5 by John Cole called Strange Maps. His commentary mentions the multiple postmarks on the back, and makes reference to an unknown RPO. I can identify that RPO. It is a Tracy & Gettysburg RPO, which ran under that name for a short time (1/18/1890 to 4/9/1890, and again from 11/20/1905 to 7/1/1907). It was a postmark on the Chicago & North Western Railroad, and ran between Tracy, MN and Gettysburg, SD. It is relatively scarce as RPOs go, rating a IV rarity factor in the Towle catalog. (To put that into perspective, the catalog rates postmarks from I to X, with 20 th century material mostly in the lower half of that range. I have one of these in my collection; a scan is attached. Mine is from Train 502 on 11/22/1906 (The year slug is inverted in the postmark)...joe Fishbein (editor s note: Thanks Joe for the great information, this is just what I enjoy seeing from our TCPC members...sharing of information so we all learn while enjoying this great hobby.) PAGE 7

8 T C P C J AN / F E B V O L UM E X X X V I I N U M B E R 1 Chicken continued from page 6 Another postcard stated that a prize of $250 would be given to the person who would get from the ninety some places listed on the front of the card. Each card had to be signed by the owner. The places listed were in 23 different states. I wonder how many people received the prize. I have never eaten at a Chicken in the Rough restaurant or have I ever seen one. I think they are still in business. They were started long before Colonel Sanders started KFC so if they ve survived all these years they must be good. Editor s note: I did a quick search of Chicken in the Rough restaurants and indeed they are still in the business but I could only find three locations. One is in Ontario, Canada and two are in Michigan. By 1950, when Time magazine ran a feature article on the Chicken in the Rough operation, Beverly and Rubye Osborne were grossing almost two million dollars per year, had sold 335 million orders of Chicken in the Rough and had created 250 franchised outlets including some as far as Johannesburg, South Africa. Throughout his lifetime, Beverly Osborne held onto his strong belief that "in business, the product is the vehicle that is used to implement a strategy for creating a good idea." PAGE 8

9 T C P C J AN / F E B V O L UM E X X X V I I N U M B E R 1 Homemade Postcards By John L. Cole I can t remember how long I ve had these cards or where I got them. I found them again while looking through a box of miscellaneous cards I have had stored away. The one with the University of Illinois seal has a postcard back and the other one doesn t have that postcard back. The heads on both cards are real photos, cut out and pasted on the cards. The artwork on the non-postcard is really great. The other card I can t tell if the back is printed or hand drawn. It s a pre 1907 postcard as the back side says this side for address only. I have a box of cards that I should do something with but I know I m not going to throw them away. If anyone would like either of these cards, drop me a line and I will send them to you. PAGE 9

10 T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOLUME XXXV II NU MBER 1 Advertising: General advertising will appear in the newsletters. Members can have one free line ad in the newsletter each year. Send your ad (and payment if required) to the newsletter editor. Member Advertising rates (per issue) Business card size $4.00 Quarter Page $10.00 Half Page. $20.00 Full Page.. $30.00 Do you or a friend have an advertisement that would look good here? The rates are a deal and if the ad had been here you d have read it! Mark you Calendar Spring TCPC Show Announcement The date for the spring show is April 27 & 28, 2013 at the Kelly Inn St. Paul. More Details will be in the March Edition of the Newsletter Twin City Postcard Club Membership Application Please check one: New Member Renewal Reinstatement Change of Information NAME STREET ADDRESS: CITY/STATE/ZIP TELEPHONE # (include area code) ADDRESS (optional) TYPES of POSTCARDS COLLECTED: Mail to Dianne Lamb, TCPC Membership Chair, Chippendale Ave, Farmington MN Total Dues annually: $13 + $1 for each additional member in the household PAGE 10

11 T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOLUME XXXV II NU MBER 1 Programs Upcoming Meetings and Events All meetings to be at: The Lynnhurst Community Center, 1345 W. Minnehaha Parkway (at 50th St.) Minneapolis MN Unless otherwise noted January 16- One of our most famous men in history, Benjamin Franklin, has a birthday on the 17th of this month. The show and tell this month is in memory of famous people in American history like Ben Franklin. Bring your cards showing these men and tell us more about the card and/or collection. February 20 Last month we had the show and tell of famous people in American history but this month marks the birth date of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln s birthdates. This show and tell is an opportunity to bring your presidents cards or collection and tell us a bit about them. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Patti Hurd Siren, WI Gates Ajar, Como Park, MN State Fair, political -presidents and causes Nyla & Luke Johnson Pipestone, MN real photo and Victorian Upcoming Programs It s time to plan for 2013 and we hope to offer programs at least once per quarter again this year. Do you have a suggestion for something you d like to see? Or, perhaps you d like to offer a program yourself (don t be shy)? Programs should be about 15 minutes in length and can be about anything from your favorite card topic or a general postcard topic. Meeting Schedule for January 16, 2013 February 20, 2013 March 20, 2013 April 17, 2013 May 15, 2013 June 19, 2013 July 17, 2013 August 21, 2013 September 18, 2013 October 16, 2013 November 20, 2013 December 18, 2013 Board Meeting Schedule for 2013 January 2, 2013 March 6, 2013 May 1, 2013 July 3, 2013 September 4, 2013 November 6, 2013 Call Dave Johnson at for further details. Please plan to attend the monthly meetings where you ll find frequent auctions and dealers with postcards for sale but also you ll have opportunities to learn more about this terrific hobby. PAGE 11 Do you have a program you d like to present? If so, contact Dave Johnson, program director

12 Twin City Postcard Club Chippendale Ave. Farmington MN If your address label is highlighted, your dues are due! Please return the application in this newsletter, with any updates, and a check for $13, plus $1 for each additional name at the same address. Thank You! T CPC JAN/FEB 2013 VOLUME XX XV II NUMB ER 1 We are on the web! Monthly Meeting Location: The Lynnhurst Community Center, 1345 W. Minnehaha Parkway (at 50th St.) Minneapolis MN Time: 5:30-8: 30 pm (program and meeting at 7:15) Got something you want to contribute? Contact: Editor: Duane Stabler dstabler@bigfoot.com PAGE 12